


unburied treasure

by Duck_Life



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Resurrection, Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4 (2016), Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 06:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21315364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Dani attends her foster son's funeral after his death in Uncanny X-Men vol. 4. But Josh Foley doesn't stay dead for long.
Relationships: Danielle Moonstar & Josh Foley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	unburied treasure

The collar of Laura’s dress is too constricting. She fidgets with it a moment before popping one claw and preparing to slice it open. Before she can do it, though, a luminous green hand grabs her wrist. “Don’t.”

“It is  _ uncomfortable _ ,” she hisses back at Julian.

“Funeral clothes usually are.” He’s wearing a black suit and a thin tie, and it occurs to her that maybe she would have preferred to wear a suit. 

She’ll keep that in mind for the next funeral. 

* * *

Cessily watches as Josh Foley’s body is lowered into the ground, and she squeezes Roxy’s hand. “D’you think anyone told his parents?” she whispers, and then she glances across the cemetery at Moonstar and Karma. “I mean, like, his birth parents.” 

“Doubt they’d care,” Prodigy pipes up beside her. “Doesn’t matter. They weren’t his family, Cess. We were.” 

* * *

“You… you should say something,” Dani says, nudging Xi’an. “You’re always so good at talking at… these.”

Xi’an won’t even look at her— her eyes are fixed on Josh’s casket. “Rotten talent to have.”

* * *

“Goodbye, Golden Boy.” 

* * *

"I have a phone," Dani says, getting right up in Monet's face. "You could have called me. You could have told me the Dark Riders were targeting healers." Xi'an has a hand on her elbow, is trying to pull her away, but Dani won't be stopped. "You could have  _ stopped _ this!"

Monet stares at her, eyes wide, mouth pressed into a thin line. She says, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Merci," Xi'an says, guiding Dani away. 

* * *

When Dani goes back to visit Josh’s grave a week later, all she founds is an empty hole in the ground. And it’s like Doug all over again. 

* * *

  
  


The phone rings once before Monet answers it in a crisp businesslike voice. "Hey," Dani says, "where's my kid, Monet?"

She hears Monet huff on the other end, as if  _ she’s  _ the one whose son clawed out of his own grave. Finally, she says, “He’s in Tibet.”

“He’s…? Is he—?”

“He’s alive, Danielle,” Monet assures her. “He brought himself back. That’s what his powers are capable of now— healing on a massive scale, genuine reincarnation.” 

Dani’s face feels hot. It takes her a second to realize there are tears on her cheeks. “And, and, and what, you didn’t think to  _ tell _ me?” 

“Elixir is… different,” Monet says, voice strained. “You remember how Magik was when she came back.”

“What are you saying, he’s missing his soul?” Dani snaps.

“No, but… he’s just different,” Monet sighs. “We found him on Genosha bringing one of the Dark Riders back to life and killing him, over and over again. He tried to cure a bunch of people of M-Pox and… well, it was almost a disaster.”

“You did all this,” Dani says, “you did all this with him, and not once did you think to call me and tell me what happened?”

“We thought that seeing his family might just upset him further—”

“No, no, you don’t make that decision,” Dani says, bitter and angry and not caring whether she’s burning bridges with someone who could have been her friend. “You don’t decide whether I get to know. God, Monet, I mean, what if it had been your sisters? How would you feel?”

Monet is quiet. Dani shuts her eyes and tries to ground herself, tries to focus on the issue—  _ Josh is alive _ — and not on her own anger. 

“I’m sorry,” Monet says finally. “I should have told you. You’re right.” 

“Okay. Okay.” To be honest, she wasn’t really expecting Monet to bend. They don’t know each other too well, but one thing Dani is sure of about the other woman is that she doesn’t give in easily, and certainly not for the sake of niceness. 

Which means she must genuinely feel bad about what happened. 

“I want to see him,” Dani says.

“I’ll send you the address,” Monet promises. “He’s studying under Xorn, learning to control his ramped-up powers… And Dani?”

“Yeah?”

“I think… I think he’s getting the lessons, the stability, that he’s always needed,” she says. “What the X-Men couldn’t give him when he was younger. I think… I think it’s good for him.”

“You’re asking me not to take him away from it.” Monet stays quiet. “Don’t worry. I’m… I won’t try to drag him away from where he wants to be. I just need to see him. I just need to see him and know that he’s okay.” 

“I understand,” Monet says. “I’ll send you the address.”

“Thank you.” Dani realizes with embarrassment that she’s about to cry again. “Goodbye,” she says quickly, and she ends the call and she presses a hand to her mouth as the tears start falling. 

* * *

  
  


For some reason, she’s expecting Josh to be wearing robes, maybe sporting a shaved head. But then again, this is Shen Xorn’s temple, not the Hare Krishna. When Josh comes out to meet her, he’s dressed in faded jeans and a Twenty One Pilots t-shirt. (His hair looks the same as it did when they buried him.) 

They don’t even say anything. Dani just holds out her arms and hugs him, squeezes tight because at any second the world might yank him away again. “I missed you,” she says finally, her chin tucked tightly over his shoulder. “Shan and the twins, too. And Laura and Julian and… oh, you should’ve seen your funeral. Full house, kiddo.” 

Josh laughs, but it kind of sounds like he’s crying, too. She doesn’t want to pull away from him to check. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I should’ve gone home. But I was just… I don’t know, Dani. I came back different.” 

“That’s okay,” Dani says. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” 

“I went to Genosha,” he says, and now he steps back from her. Now she can see the lives (the decisions, the abilities, the power) hanging on his shoulders. He’s always been serious and a little morbid, but this is different, somehow. He looks older. “I went to Genosha, I thought I could… I thought… and then, Monet and Magneto, they… they took me to one of the triage places where all the people with M Pox were being treated. And I helped them, I did, but it was… I mean, I almost…” 

Something ghosts over his face, and Dani decides she’ll ask him about that later. Maybe she’ll even get the full story from Monet. 

"On Genosha, though,” Josh says. “All those people, all those… I thought I could bring them all back," Josh says, his shoulders slumping inward. 

Dani smooths a hand over his hair. "You brought yourself back," she says. "That's the important thing."

“But I think I can do more,” he says. “I really do. I… I’m learning.”

“I know.” 

“It’s like I’m not seeing the whole thing. Like I’m standing too close to the picture,” Josh goes on, shifting back and forth from one foot to the other. “I don’t know. I probably sound crazy.”

“Nah,” Dani says. “No more than usual, anyway.” 

He makes a face, and she smiles, and everything is almost okay, almost. “I’m glad you’re here,” Josh says, “but… I don’t think I can go back with you. There’s still a lot I need to learn. There’s work I need to do here. And… it feels like this is where I need to be right now.” 

Dani nods, understanding even though it hurts. “We’re here for you when you’re ready to come home,” she says. 

“I know,” Josh tells her. 

“So,” Dani says. “Can you give me a tour of the temple? Or is it all weird top-secret stuff?”

“No, I can give you a tour,” Josh says. “Come on.” He turns and walks back toward the heart of the temple with Dani following behind. 


End file.
